Hezbollah’s incessant cross-border attacks on northern Israel since Oct. 8, 2023 have burned over 230,000 dunams (57,000 acres) of land, the Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael-Jewish National Fund said on Wednesday.
According to KKL-JNF’s Forestry Department, it will take some five to seven years for nature to repair the damage.
According to the data, Israel’s Upper Galilee and Golan Heights regions have suffered the most damage, with almost 43,500 acres burned, followed by the Lower Galilee (some 6,175 acres), the Western Galilee (2,223 acres) and the Hula Valley (178 acres).
The woods that saw the most destruction are the Birya and Baal Shem Tov forests outside the city of Safed, Ramot Naftali Forest in the Upper Galilee near the border with Lebanon, and Hazon Forest near Karmiel.
The fires have also “affected a large variety of animals,” KKL-JNF said, noting that the nests of many birds had been destroyed while “large numbers of arthropods were unable to escape the flames.”
According to the NGO, “All the woodland and forest trees—including coniferous trees such as pine, cypress and cedar, as well as broad-leaved trees such as oaks, Judas trees, eucalyptus, carob and almonds—were damaged by the fires. Public spaces such as parking lots, birdhouses, observatories, forest entrances and scenic roads were also burned.”
Iranian-backed Hezbollah has attacked Israel nearly daily for over 12 months, firing some 10,000 rockets, missiles and drones. Jerusalem has escalated attacks on Hezbollah since adding the return of displaced citizens to northern Israel to its official war goals on Sept. 17, 2024.
